Chinese, Canadian Tourists Reach Bulgaria's Shabla in 2011

The small Bulgarian Black Sea resort of Shabla has been visited for the first time by Chinese and Canadian tourists in 2011, Shabla Deputy Mayor Mariyan Zhechev announced.

"The visits of Chinese and Canadian tourists are something quite different for us," Zhechev told Radio Focus – Varna Thursday.

He revealed data about the number of tourists in Shabla – Bulgaria's northernmost Black Sea municipality which still boasts a coastline with some virgin nature unlike much of the rest of Bulgaria's coast where natural habitats were destroyed by hasty resort construction and real estate speculators prior to 2008.

A total of 5 707 tourists visited Shabla over the 2011 summer season; of those only 874 were foreigners.

The traditional foreign visitors of the Shabla Municipality, which is home to some unique bird species with the Shabla and Durankulak Lakes, come from Romania, Poland, Germany, the UK, and Ukraine.

The accommodation that the very north of Bulgaria's Black Sea coast has to offer consists mostly of guest houses and small family hotels, the deputy mayor of the town explained.

The Shabla Municipality has received BGN 10 000 from hotel owners in the form of tourist tax from some 20 000 night stays over the summer, Zhechev said.

He pointed out that over the winter Shable does attract a certain number of foreign visitors on birdwatching tours as migrating birds make their winter home near the large lakes off the Black Sea coast.

Zhechev outlined the ambitions of the Shabla Municipality to boost eco tourism next year with a number of projects.

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